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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26389549">Prey Instincts</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikauRifka/pseuds/NikauRifka'>NikauRifka</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Hollow Knight (Video Games)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Enemies to Lovers, Gen, I continue to write fics for the most minor of characters and the most obscure ships, I just love these two so much dont at me, Injury, Minor Violence, Violence, he's got a different job for now, minor gore, set before revek is protector of the spirit glade</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-09-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 09:40:00</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26389549</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/NikauRifka/pseuds/NikauRifka</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>A grasshopper and a dragonfly meet in the typical fashion that any apex predator meets their next meal: Terribly.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Revek/Perpetos Noo (Hollow Knight)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Prey Instincts</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I headcanon both Revek and Perpetos use he/they pronouns, but I'm using primarily he for Revek and they for Perpetos to tell them apart easier. And yes, Revek is a grasshopper.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The air was crisp, cleaner than most cave air where the dragonfly claimed their hunting grounds. The walls draped with moss and vines and leaves like a tiny underground forest. It gave the illusion that they had more space to stretch their wings, more variation to blend in with, to stalk and wait. However, the creatures who wandered Greenpath’s tunnels were inadequate of meals at best. Maskflies were simply a chore to catch and hardly had any meat on them, and mosskin tasted far too much like grass for their liking. If they had wanted to go vegan, they would have just scraped their dinner off the overgrown stone walls like some sort of prey animal. But that was hardly satisfactory for an apex predator, which was why when a traveler finally made their way to the area, Perpetos found themself both relieved and exhilarated, the beginning pains of hunger picking at their stomach.</p><p>The presence of their prey’s nail, sharp and pristine told them he wasn’t completely helpless. He wouldn’t carry around a weapon like that if he didn’t know how to use it, at least to some extent. Blue tatters waved and settled around his legs as he walked, flowing out from his armor like wisps; like the tentacles of those explosive creatures that floated around Fog Canyon. His blade shined as it hit the light that shone down through the ceiling. He slowed down in his path, pausing to look over a map for what he likely planned to only be a moment, driving his blade into the dirt beside him to free up his other hand.</p><p>Despite his likely prowess in battle -one Perpetos had judged by looks alone, and he was such a scrawny thing - he had no way of suspecting the hungry carnivore that dove down from the ceiling in a sudden flurry, the wind from their wings brushing dust and leaves into the air as they snatched him off the ground the moment his claws let go of his nail. Being the highly skilled warrior he was, the grasshopper only yelped a little bit.</p><p>On instinct, he kicked backwards at his attacker, clawing at the arms wrapped firmly around his thorax. It was a quick moment of midair combat, uncoordinated jabs from frantic limbs and claws, only for Perpetos to greatly underestimate the bug’s strength and speed, and lose their grip hardly a second after they'd left the ground. He would go falling back to the ground landing hard on his mask with a painfully loud crack. He was free from their grasp, though thoroughly stunned, and all the hungry dragonfly had to do was dive back down, jab a knee into the small of his back and hold his arms to pin him down. An easy, filling meal.</p><p>“Get off of me, I’m on important business!” the grasshopper hissed, nearly managing to toss his attacker off of him just like that. The dragonfly reeled at his strength, and adjusted their grip. They did not intend to lose a test of strength to a <em> prey animal </em>.</p><p>“So am I. Haven’t you heard of the circle of life?” They pushed their knee harder into his back, making him gasp for breath, falling mostly limp on the floor, “This is such an honorable way to die, really. When will you get another chance like this?”</p><p>He didn’t reply as they reached for their nail, claws just barely brushing the hilt before they were knocked back, and the bug sprang forward. He was fast, and by the time Perpetos had recovered, he’d already swept up his own blade, though he wouldn’t stay to fight. He jumped towards the wall, the smallest gap between the stones there, just wide enough for him to slip through and into the tiny, moss-ridden alcove behind.</p><p>Perpetos followed close on his trail, only to find themself perplexed staring at the tiny hole in the wall. How had he managed to squeeze through that? They dug at the base of the wall like a frantic dog after a rodent, but would huff in frustration and give up quickly. But they had no intentions to walk away just like that.</p><p>They simply sat down against the wall, glancing down at the crack in the stone out of the corner of their eye. “Do you really intend to stay in there forever?” they hissed, just hanging onto the edge of calm by a thread. Their hunger threatened to get the better of them.</p><p>“You are the one who’s so hungry,” was the response, voice muffled by the moss he hid in. He was the calm Perpetos was trying to be, cool and collected and threatening, and that only made them angrier. A mosscreep stirred within the mini cave, making its high pitched purring sound as it looked at the grasshopper huddled in its home with big white eyes. He picked up the small creature, holding it in his lap to keep it from wandering out and to the mercy of such a hostile bug. “Go eat a tiktik instead, they’ve hardly the consciousness to mind.”</p><p>“A <em> tiktik? </em> ” Perpetos snarled, feeling like all of their patience melted away again and again with every word he uttered, “I have so much more dignity than that. Haven’t you ever heard of <em> taste? </em>” </p><p>Did they have a right to be upset at a creature they were trying to eat? Maybe not. But the more their hunger grew the more they thought a tiktik sounded like a wonderful meal. Of course, they would not admit such a thing.</p><p>“So then you’re really not that hungry,” the grasshopper concluded, idly petting the foliage that grew from the mosscreep’s back. He had places he needed to be, but he had patience as well. He had no doubts he could outlast this predator, as he had others in the past, as he preferred to let them live whenever possible. They could not be blamed for their need to eat.</p><p>“I’m on a job for the King,” he continued, despite having no intentions of moving from his tiny shelter, “It’s in your best interest to find your dinner elsewhere.”</p><p>“The King?” they scoffed, suddenly like they’d been just waiting for something to say, “Do you think I care what some <em> wyrm </em>has to say?”</p><p>“You certainly should. I would have struck you down by now if not for that sentience he gave you.”</p><p>Perpetos twitched, that same old petulance burning and bubbling up until it had nowhere to go, as it had nowhere to go this entire time. It built and built upon itself until they felt like tearing the entire wall down just to get the measly little bug within. “I serve under no god but myself,” they managed through clenched mandibles. A growl more than real words. They dug their claws into the ground, yanking up moss and weeds and dropping it back down.</p><p>“Maybe that’s why you can’t find any food,” the grasshopper said, like he was taunting them, both with his calm words and with the meal they desired so badly.</p><p>“I have found food, it is simply too stubborn to face that’s all it is!” they snapped, driving their claws into the wall and shredding more moss from the stone, as if that could make them feel any better. It hadn’t helped the empty feeling in their gut, but it had spurred on an idea. One they probably would have thought of a lot sooner if their emotions hadn’t gotten the better of them.</p><p>“Whatever, you’ll probably get picked up by a mantis or something eventually,” Perpetos spat, standing up and stalking off towards the tunnels, “I’m going to find myself a tiktik.”</p><p>With that they were gone, leaving their lucky prey in their alcove to hang with the mosscreeps.</p><p>It would be some time of waiting, testing the validity of their words, before he finally crawled out of the hole, poking his head out to look around and assure they weren’t still out there waiting. Seeing no sight of them, or any other dangers for that matter, he squeezed the rest of the way out, leaving his arboreal friend behind to burrow back into the dirt. He held his nail at his side as he went quickly on his way. Despite his patience, he <em> did </em>still have somewhere to be.</p><p>He should have expected to be ambushed twice. He already felt like a fool letting it happen the first time, and now, the second he’d crossed into the next cave over, that same adamant dragonfly dropped from the ceiling to pin him down again. He had to appreciate their resolve, and the fact that they had very clearly learned from their earlier mistakes. Their grip was much stronger now, claws digging hard into the back of his neck.</p><p>They plucked the nail from his hand while he was still stunned, skewering the blade through the meaty part of his leg before he even had a chance to react. He cried out in pain as it was yanked back out again, a gruesome squelching sound resonating through the cavern as it tore through shell and muscle. He gave a feeble attempt to buck the other off him, and Perpetos adjusted their hold, tossing the nail aside. They wouldn’t need it, they were certainly fuming enough to murder with their bare claws.</p><p>They had no chance to do that, however, as they had missed the familiar cracking sound of stone crumbling above, though they certainly didn’t miss the searing pain in their wing as a stalactite pierced through it and into the ground beneath. They made a loud, pained cry, collapsing down on the grasshopper, who was now confused on top of everything else. He took the opening to wriggle out from beneath the other, pulling himself along the ground with his leg trailing fluids behind him. He struggled quickly to his nail, claws grasping the hilt like it was his life, and then putting as much distance between him and the dragonfly in as short amount of time as possible.</p><p>He held the weapon blade pointed outward, threatening despite the way his limbs shook. Perpetos only growled lightly at him, cutting themself off with a hiss of pain, followed by a defeated whine.</p><p>That was the noise that caught the grasshopper’s attention, as he struggled slowly to his feet, using his nail as a crutch. He looked at the stalactite that had fallen, pinning the bug down and rendering them harmless. Though, also helpless. Despite having been almost killed by the creature, he felt… Bad. And he knew that would be his downfall. He took a moment to steady himself, calming his nerves and trying to ignore the searing pain in his thigh, before limping slowly over to the trapped predator, about to make what he expected to be a mistake.</p><p>“What are you still doing here?” they growled, their claws digging into dirt and stone. They took anxious, shallow breaths, trying to move in any sort of way that wouldn’t cause their wing to tear, but only ended with a bigger gash than they started with. The grasshopper moved to their side, pressing his nail into the dirt to hold it upright for him.</p><p>“Helping you,” he said in a similar tone, huffing in exhaustion just getting himself where he wanted to be. He stood his good leg on the pinned wing to keep it down, letting all his weight fall there when he let go of his nail to twist and pull the point of the rock from the ground. He did so fairly easily, dropping it to the side before taking a stumbling step backwards, falling to the ground just a few feet from the dangerous creature he just freed. He made a stifled cry of pain, the gash in his leg dribbling hemolymph onto the ground and staining the edges of his skirt.</p><p>Perpetos stayed flat on the ground for a moment even after the stalactite was removed, their wings flicking slightly as they were able to move without tearing. They stood slowly, right as the grasshopper fell, lifting and sheathing their nail behind their back before turning toward their prey. The two made eye contact, one an unreadable expression while the other showed obvious, primal fear. He was too far from his own nail, though, his injuries keeping him there on the ground, trapped. Perpetos moved forward, picking up the smaller nail as they walked past it, and came to a stop before the grasshopper.</p><p>They both stayed still for too long of a moment, the smaller one holding in a breath. The nail lifted, slowly, brought behind Perpetos’ back as they sheathed it beside their own. They scooped up the injured grasshopper in one swift movement, their hold much more gentle than their previous death grip. Though it was frightening nonetheless, and that was unavoidable. Prey animals were just like that.</p><p>He clawed at the dragonflies arms, attempting to squirm out of their grasp despite the fact that he could not walk. Perpetos had little doubts that bugs like him didn’t always think things through. They gave an exasperated sigh, readjusting their grip before he could accomplish his goal. Could he not see they were trying to help?</p><p>“Stop that,” they growled, though with little malice in their voice, walking down the mossy cavern corridor in search of something to call shelter. Then they would leave him be, they just didn't want to leave him injured for easy picking.</p><p>“Put me down, then!” he hissed back, continuing his foolish struggling, though the longer he went the less it seemed like he was actually trying. Maybe he finally realized he was no longer in danger.</p><p>“You would really rather I just leave you here?” Perpetos questioned, making the grasshopper fall silent, relaxing just a bit in their arms. They didn’t blame him, of course. They <em> had </em> been trying to eat him, after all. They were the entire reason he couldn’t just walk to safety himself. And if they paid close enough attention, they could feel the poor thing shaking. They would have felt bad, if they weren’t used to making things feel that way.</p><p>“I’m not going to hurt you, okay?” they said eventually, a small sigh escaping them. How could they after he’d helped them like that? Really, he should have just run. Most bugs would have. But if he had, it wasn’t as if any other bug was going to help them. They would have lost their wing, and then likely ended up starving to death. They weren’t really that great a hunter even with flight on their side. “Just let me get you somewhere safe to heal. It’s the least I can do…”</p><p>They spoke the last part quietly, the grasshopper returning the words with a curious glance. Almost amused. Though it only took a glare from Perpetos for him to drop that look, averting his eyes to watch the ground pass by.</p><p>“...Thanks,” he said quietly, and Perpetos would suppress a smile feeling him relax at their words. “I’m… Revek,” he shared, looking off in the distance as he spoke.</p><p>“Perpetos Noo,” the dragonfly returned, ducking under hanging moss as the ceiling sloped a bit lower, “Apologies. For trying to eat you, earlier.”</p>
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